


I Do Believe This Is Yours

by Ghostinthehouse



Series: Demon and Angel Professors [28]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Professors, Disabled Crowley (Good Omens), Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 19:28:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21361471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghostinthehouse/pseuds/Ghostinthehouse
Summary: In the end, it's Crowley who is first on the scene when trouble arrives, with Aziraphale not far behind.
Relationships: Aziraphale & Crowley & Warlock Dowling, Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: Demon and Angel Professors [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1412962
Comments: 48
Kudos: 1489
Collections: Aspec-friendly Good Omens





	I Do Believe This Is Yours

In the end, it's Crowley who is first on the scene when trouble arrives in the shape of Warlock's father, with Aziraphale not far behind him. It's Crowley who roughly peels the man's hand off Warlock's arm and pushes the kid through the east door of the greenhouse to shelter in the garden inside its walls. It's no grand Eden Project*, but it's _his_, and the plants know what's expected of them.

He braces himself in the doorway, hoping not to do too much damage to his bad leg, and gives the man the sort of glare he usually reserves for severely underperforming plants. It's Aziraphale who steps in between to guard them, and it's Aziraphale's soft, strong, hand that catches the punching arm by the wrist before it can connect.

He says primly, "I do believe this is yours," and pushes the hand away from himself and toward the man. On releasing him, he clasps his own hands loosely in front of him, lifts his head and meets the man's eyes without fear, and with a quiet, icy, fury. It's all the sword he needs to guard this gate, this entrance.

But what the students see, as they step out to change classes, is a strange man threatening sweet Dr Fell for no apparent reason. And their fury runs a great deal hotter, if not fiercer. They swarm forward in a unified, if uncoordinated, mass, sweeping around them both, hardly noticing Dr Crowley in the greenhouse entrance, or the student-aged youngster who has crept back beside him.

The man finds himself pushed back, away from Dr Fell, buffeted about by the press of shoving bodies and drowning in their righteous anger that he dared raise his hand to someone so sweet, so innocent, so beloved, so harmless.

By the time security descends on them to dismantle the spontaneous uprising, both Dr Fell and Dr Crowley have composed their faces back into something neutral, although a flicker of satisfaction remains in Dr Fell's eyes. He knows how it looked, and he knows exactly how the students react to seeing him attacked**, and he can wield that like a weapon if he needs to, just as he can wield the way he looks.

Because what security sees when they look his way is an older white man kindly helping someone injured (or at least, limping) to a bench while a 'student' hovers in distress. Harmless, familiar, Dr Fell fussing around his husband.

Aziraphale, when asked, says mildly, "I saw this man trying to punch my husband and stepped in to prevent any damage. I had nothing to do with the students, it was entirely their own volition."

Crowley, when interviewed, shrugs. "There's a custody dispute over my godchild here, and he was trying to force the issue by physically dragging the kid off," he tells security, crooking a half-apologetic smile across his angular face. "I was more interested in getting War to safety than starting one." He doesn't have quite the reputation Aziraphale does, nor the harmless looks, but he also knows how to wield what privilege he has (older, white, familiar) to protect himself and those around him who need it. That familiarity means security "knows" not to take any rumours or stories that latch onto him without an extremely large pinch of salt. It also means that all Warlock needs to do is nod along in order to be believed.

Warlock does nod, mute and scared and hunched tight, only moving to reveal the bruises where they had been half-dragged along.

Security gives Crowley a nod in return and a wry look of understanding. And when security returns to interview Thaddeus Dowling, it isn't with the respect that the man believes he deserves, nor with taking his accusations of kidnapping and corrupting the youth seriously. It's with other serious questions about what, exactly, he was doing to leave Warlock with bruises, and Dr Crowley, respected professor, limping, and orders to leave them alone in future.

**Author's Note:**

> *The Eden Project, in Cornwall, England, consists of 2 huge greenhouse domes containing man-made tropical and mediterranean biomes, plus an outdoor temperate biome, and was created in part to celebrate the new millenium.
> 
> **One does not simply attack Dr Fell.


End file.
